1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf ball of a four layer or multilayer structure offering pleasant feel and click when hit, improved durability, and increased distance.
2. Related Art
A variety of multi-piece golf balls including three-piece and four-piece ball constructions have been developed over the past few years in order to improve ball performance. The practice is known of balancing a soft feel with good resilience in multi-piece golf balls by giving the ball a hardness distribution across its core in such a way as to retain both properties. The predominant concept for achieving a soft feel is to soften the core. It is generally believed that hardening the core compromises the feel.
By contrast, golf balls using hard cores are also known (see JP-A 10-127818 and 11-57070). The hard core is reduced in diameter so as to avoid any adverse effect on the soft feel. The use of a hard core allegedly contributes to pleasant click and improved distance performance when hit at low head speeds.
The golf balls disclosed in the above-referred patents has an intermediate layer of a rubber composition formed on the surface of the core. Regrettably, this gives rise to a new problem that stresses tend to concentrate at the interface between the core and the intermediate layer due to the hardness difference therebetween so that the soft rubber layer is sensitive to crack.